This is the story of our amazing daughter and her life with Cystic Fibrosis.

Monday, September 22, 2008

First trip to the ER...

Last week, Olivia caught at cold at daycare (which she has lovingly shared with Mommy) and had become Queen of the Snot Goblins. She couldn't sleep Friday night-since she sleeps sucking on her thumb and the amount of snot in her nose was making it impossible for her to breath. Saturday night was a repeat, but with even more snot and some coughs added in to the festivities. I called the on-call pediatrician to see if there was anything I could give Olivia to help clear up the congestion and was instructed to take her to the Emergency Room so they could make sure the infection wasn't getting into her lungs. Chris and I proceeded to load her up and drive (incredibly stressed out) to the ER. They took a sputum sample, sucked her nose clean with the Booger-Be-Gone and sent sample to the lab. They put her on Bactrim 2x/day for 14 days and they said her lungs still sound clear and that we need to keep aspirating her nose to keep the stuff from getting into her lungs.

What is Cystic Fibrosis (CF)?

CF is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. A defective gene causes the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucous that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections, obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food. The predicted median age of survival for a person with CF is now more than 37 years old.